Boston 05 February 2004Joslin Diabetes Center, specialised in diabetes research and care, is affiliating with prevecare, a preventive medicine centre in Charleston, South Carolina. The venture represents the first time Joslin has ever partnered with an institution devoted specifically to prevention of the disease and its complications. The only non-hospital Joslin affiliate, prevecare focuses on stopping diabetes and cardiovascular disease before they strike. The Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at prevecare will use a strategy that involves assessment of each patient's risk factors for type 2 diabetes, advanced technologies for early detection of the disease, and the latest risk reduction techniques to reduce complications.

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Both institutions will also pool their vascular expertise to prevent heart disease and stroke, the complications responsible for the most diabetes-related fatalities, through a combination of lifestyle adjustment and state-of-the-art technology. The Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at prevecare will couple advanced diagnostic technologies to identify cardiovascular problems before symptoms of blockage occur with non-invasive angiography treatment. To this end, the centre will use the e-Speed Electron Beam Tomographic Scanner, the fastest, most advanced cardiovascular imaging system in the world.

John W. Hare, M.D., Director of Joslin's Affiliated Centers Programme,stated: "An epidemic of diabetes is expected to affect 300 million people worldwide in the next quarter century. Joslin's new affiliation with prevecare allows us a unique opportunity not only to educate people at risk, but also to markedly decrease their risk. Hopefully, this partnership will help spread the message that combating diabetes cannot simply be reactive; it requires an aggressive, pro-active approach to treatment, to lifestyle adjustment, and to prevention."

Joslin Diabetes Center currently has Affiliated Programmes in 22 facilities throughout the United States. Patients receiving care at the Affiliates benefit from the expertise of the Joslin staff. The Affiliate staffs receive regularly scheduled visits from and participate in conferences with members of the Joslin health care team. Joslin's team ensures that every centre stays current with the research and educational advancements made at Joslin in Boston, where hundreds of doctors conduct research focused solely on diabetes and its related complications.

The array of educational publications, including management guides, cookbooks, and exercise videos provided by Joslin, will make prevecare better able to provide diabetes-specific lifestyle adjustment techniques. With these tools, patients and their health care team at prevecare have the ability to develop individual care plans to halt the development of type 2 diabetes and to reduce the likelihood of developing heart disease.

"The complexity of diabetes and related disorders makes a well-trained team of health care professionals and access to cutting edge research and technology critical to proper care. At prevecare we are committed to providing our clients with the best care available; an affiliation with Joslin automatically raises the bar for the services that we will be able to provide for our clients with diabetes and those at risk for developing the disease and its complications", stated Sarah Dolven, M.D., Director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at prevecare.

Diabetes is a growing public health threat. Over 18,2 million Americans - 6,3 percent of the population - are estimated to have the disease; over 5 million of them do not know they have it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 300 million people worldwide will have diabetes by 2025. Type 2 diabetes, formerly considered a disease of older adults, has grown at epidemic rates in recent years and is occurring increasingly among young adults and even children, a phenomenon largely attributed to obesity and sedentary lifestyle.

The prevalence of diabetes in South Carolina is among the nation's highest. An estimated 280.000 individuals have been diagnosed with diabetes, and another 140.000 have diabetes but do not know it, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Fifty-eight percent of the adults in South Carolina are overweight, putting them at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The state has the third highest rate of cardiovascular disease in the nation and the highest for stroke. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in South Carolina.

Diabetes is a leading cause of end-stage kidney disease, heart attack, stroke, eye disease and blindness. Research, however, clearly demonstrates that expert diabetes care designed to keep blood glucose levels close to normal can reduce the risk of developing complications, and can markedly slow the rate at which the complications progress.

prevecare is an innovative model of health care devoted to preventing heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, cancers and other serious medical diseases before they strike. The mission of prevecare is to provide clients with personalized pathways to optimum health and wellness. prevecare is committed to the most advanced models of disease risk prediction, gold standard technologies for early disease detection and management, as well as aggressive strategies for disease prevention. The state-of-the-art imaging capabilities at prevecare include digital mammography, bone densitometry, nuclear medicine, cardiac and vascular ultrasonography, virtual colonoscopy, and the fastest, most advanced cardiovascular imaging system in the world: the e-Speed Electron Beam Tomographic Scanner.

Joslin Diabetes Center, a global expert in diabetes research, care and education, is uniquely qualified to lead the battle against diabetes in the 21st century. Joslin Research is a team of over 300 people at the forefront of discovery aimed at preventing and curing diabetes. Joslin Clinic, the nationwide network of Joslin Affiliated Programmes, and the hundreds of Joslin educational programmes offered each year for clinicians, researchers and patients enable Joslin to develop, implement and share innovations that immeasurably improve the lives of people with diabetes.